He was a bit odd, as they remembered. He had once spoken of his dragon. If it had been a passing remark, then it wouldn't have been so weird, but the way he had spoken of it (Gadoot...Gadzoot, or something like it) had made it seem like he thought the dragon was real. Like a real person or something.

It was then everyone in the department realized. David wasn't just eccentric. No, he was crazy. Pretty much everyone had avoided him after that. He was just so...odd. His obsession with dragons and his constant muttering to himself and scribbling random symbols and words on whatever paper he could find pretty much ensured that he was a loner. It was a shame too. He seemed nice enough, but no one wanted to be friends with the class crazy.

After that, they pretty much left him to be by himself. Oh sure, they were never deliberately mean to him. David was too nice of a guy for that. But every once in a while, at study sessions (which they had forgotten to invite him to) a joke was made at his expense or the latest rumour concerning him came up.

Careful there. You're starting to sound like Rain.

I heard he's off his meds or something, and that's why he acts so weird.

They'd all have a laugh or shrug and continue on with their lives, not even thinking about it too much. No, they were never cruel to him. They just excluded him a bit, but it was okay because he liked to be alone anyways, right?

And it wasn't like he was alone. He had that girl, Zanna, the Goth. Those two had seemed to hit it off. So it wasn't like they just left him out of everything. He just enjoyed Zanna's company more than theirs. She listened to his crazy stories about his dragon and even enjoyed it. So it was probably better that those two hung out, but not with everyone else.

Once it became obvious that the two of them weren't going anywhere, they meant to invite them to the group study sessions and stuff, but had just forgotten. Honestly. But they never felt bad about it or apologized for forgetting, they just hadn't mentioned anything to him. They knew he knew about the study sessions he wasn't invited to. He had come in with a lady once (a younger lady, but older than all of them). He had seen them, but chose to just give a small smile of acknowledgement to let them know he had noticed them. They all felt a bit guilty after that encounter, but the feeling quickly was forgotten and replaced with questions.

Who was that woman?

How did she know "Zany" David?

Plus, it wasn't like he needed the extra study time. He was brilliant and Dr. Bergstrom had taken a real shine to him. It wasn't like he needed help in the class. No, he was doing fine in the class. Better than fine. So it didn't make sense to invite him to a study session, right?

It wasn't that they didn't like him. That was just wrong. No, he was nice enough. He was just strange.

Just a bit odd.

Maybe in a few weeks he'd calm down and then they'd welcome him with open arms. Yeah, he was probably nervous and rambling before. He'd probably get more comfortable with everyone soon and then they would get more comfortable with him (Maybe then he could come to one of their study sessions and give them some pointers while they studied of something).

They like David, but they'd have to wait until he chilled out some to try to make friends with him. But that wouldn't be very long now.

Right?